VISIT LOU IN CHRISTCHURCH

Deciding to spend a weekend in the cold is already pretty brave but being punished with rain for the entire time is rather depressing. So, what is there to do in Christchurch for days like these. Eating and drinking sounds like a great idea at first
but surly there must be more to do than this.

There wasn't a great deal of indoor activities which interested us. We visited Christchurch's Museum, Art Gallery and Botanic Gardens with a wonderful display on insect eating plants and bonsai trees. We also gathered information about expeditions on the South Pole in the Antarctic Centre including being part of "Half Pints" release out of quarantine. He joint the "special group", blue penguins with disabilities.

On Sunday Lou drove us out of Christchurch while we experienced a dry patch. We visited Littleton's Timeball Station, walked along the beach at Sumner and ended up with a non starting vehicle. Phil crawled around and under the car for about 30 minutes and of course he fixed it as usual.

One last place I would like to mention. The Dyslexia Discovery outdoor exhibit. It displays various bronze sculptures for brilliant photo opportunities. I was not passioned enough to get soaked therefore here are two photos I found of Richard Tylers "Inner Struggle" which I think are amazing shots.

MOVING TO PARNELL

TO STOP ANY FURTHER CONFUSIONS: THE PHOTOS AT THE TOP ARE TAKEN OF PROPERTIES WE LOOKED AT BUT WE DID NOT LIKE. PHOTOS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ENTRY ARE TAKEN OF OUR NEW HOME. SORRY, SOME PEOPLE DID NOT SEEM TO GET THAT...

Finding a new home was not as easy as we all thought. Were our expectations to high or the properties just not ideal for us, we struggled to find the perfect place.









Really, all we wanted was a place suitable for Leila and MacGyver, 2 fairly seized bedrooms, a little patch for our vegetables, a little place for storage, a deck or balcony for our BBQs in the summer, a secure place to store Phil's scooter, no hassle to park our cars and no dampness in the house. Oh well and affordable of course! Is that to much to ask for?


It seemed like it at first and we got tired and frustrated with looking at properties till one day Chris and Phil viewed a place in Parnell and loved it immediately.

Before moving in, we had to move out first. Our place was getting cleaner and cleaner but also more empty with every day. The cats were missing there familiar placed and so did we as we didn't even have chairs left on our last night at Seaview Road.

OUR NEW HOME IS EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR.

We were settled within 48 hours.

We transplanted our vegetables with 24 hours.

MacGyver was back to normal within 6 hours.

And Leila finally found a comfortable place right next to the beer fridge.

HAPPY DAYS IN PARNELL ROAD!

ALL BLACKS vs ENGLAND AT EDEN PARK

We were looking forward seeing the rugby test match at Eden Park and especially seeing the Haka as a life performance by the All Blacks. The trains were packed getting to the stadium, reminding us on normal rush hour scenario on London's underground system. The only difference were the wheels on the track sounding quite scary, obviously not used to that weight.

We had great seats but the opening of the match with English knights fighting against knights from New Zealand was rather bizarre.

There were lots of English supporters in the stadium as well as a group of Germans behind us and All Blacks supporters in front of us. The atmosphere was fantastic especially the Mexican wave which went around the stadium 3 times with rubbish flying up in the air. Chris got injured by a bottle, luckily there were selling plastic ones only.

It was quite sad to see England loose against the All Blacks. The end result was 37-20 but what an amazing evening out.

BAYLYS BEACH

Booking a budget accommodation over the Internet is always a little risky to what you end up with. To our surprise we arrived late night on Friday and entered a lovely specious bach which was in a much better state than any of our current rented properties.

On Saturday we drove up to the Waipoua Kauri Forrest and also had a look at Kaiiwi Lakes. Sunday was the highlight of our weekend. Over the phone we arranged a trip to Kaipara Lighthouse. We than drove all the way down to Pouto to meet our guide and have a look what we ended up with:



Kaipara Lighthouse was built in 1884 to guide ships crossing the bar at the mouth of the Kaipara Harbour. The lighthouse closed down in 1952, and the area is now a historic reserve managed by the Trust. The lighthouse is situated on the last outcrop of sandstone and is 278 feet above sea level.



Our guide was also the owner of the keys to the lighthouse. It took us about 30 minutes to open the door as previously people tried to break in and damaged the door quite badly. We had the pleasure of seeing the inside and enjoyed the amazing views from the top.